Surgeon saves worn-out athletes

By Candace SuttonJune 22 2003
The Sun-Herald

Two Australian laboratories could soon be growing the cartilage cells of international athletes - or at least those with damaged ankles.

Sydney orthopaedic surgeon Martin Sullivan has revolutionised the repair of sport's most common injury - ankle tears, breaks and deterioration - by reproducing his patients' cartilage and transplanting it using keyhole surgery.

Work such as this has put Australia at the forefront of "tissue engineering" and has strong potential for back surgery and even birth defects, Dr Sullivan said.

"There are huge possibilities in terms of its broader application in the community, such as for healing intervertebral disc prolapse and treating children born without ear lobes," he said.

A specialist at St Vincents Hospital, Dr Sullivan said athletes such as tennis champion Martina Hingis, forced to retire through ankle injury at 23, might be able to extend their careers.");document.write("

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Growing cartilage - which, unlike bone, does not self-generate - originated in Sweden for the treatment of knee injuries. However, Australia now has the reputation for treating ankles.

Like many surgeons, Dr Sullivan began arthroscopically transplanting cartilage from a patient's knee to their ankle.

He undertook this kind of surgery on former junior tennis star Renee Reid, the sister of reigning Wimbledon boys' champion Todd.

Ms Reid, 25, a former Australian Institute of Sport student, had a chronic ankle injury that caused constant pain and prevented her playing even social tennis.

Dr Sullivan broke her ankle and inserted her own knee cartilage in August 2000. She is now pain-free and is not expected to develop arthritis, which is common on old injury sites.

In the past 18 months Dr Sullivan has extracted microscopic cell samples and sent them to the Verigen laboratory in Perth and Mercy Tissue Engineering in Melbourne.

He hopes eventually to have a similar laboratory at St Vincents, which pioneered the growing of bone marrow for transplants.

Dr Sullivan's practice, which includes about 300 arthroscopies each year, is attracting more elite athletes.

The cartilage cells take between four and six weeks to grow, the process costing $8000. Dr Sullivan said athletes could fully recover, their ankle as good as new, within 12 months.

He said tissue engineering was not stem cell surgery (it uses adult cells), but "it is where we are heading".

In the future, he said, patients with broken limbs would take a tablet to make the bone knit more quickly.